Russ Nelson proposes new license requirements

Posted Mar 2, 2005 23:44 UTC (Wed) by BrucePerens (guest, #2510)
In reply to: Russ Nelson proposes new license requirements by sdalley
Parent article: Russ Nelson proposes new license requirements

Yes, he was making an economic point, not a racist one. But he demonstrated a lack of empathy in wording it the way he did. Someone else might have had the communication skill to make that point without the slightest bit of offensiveness.

Bruce

Russ Nelson proposes new license requirements

Posted Mar 3, 2005 3:52 UTC (Thu) by bk (guest, #25617) [Link]

Maybe he was trying to make an economic point but he inadvertently revealed his rather racist and, frankly, nonsensical viewpoint. For instance, the piece is centered around the assertion (never justified with evidence) that individuals that are paid less will not work as hard.

This is utter nonsense.

Statistically, the vast majority of people do not work because it is enjoyable. People work so they have the means to survive. Therefore the cost of subsistence will always dictate the minimum work required of an individual. If you pay a person less, they will have to work more. If you pay a person more, they will have the luxury of less work ("free time"), unnecessary luxury goods or both.

It should be obvious, therefore, that the most effective way to extract the most work out of an individual is to pay them such that for them to earn enough to survive they must work to the maximimum of their physical ability. A subsistence wage.

Russ Nelson doesn't know what he's writing about.